Passavant+Hospital

Lola Madison died here after an abortion by Dr. Lucy Hagenow at Hagenow's Clark Street practice.

In early February, 1919, 22-year-old homemaker Edna Griffith died at Chicago's Passavant Hospital from complications of an abortion perpetrated by a person who was never identified.

Passavant Hospital was a reputable hospital, originally called Emergency Hospital when opened in 1885, then renamed in 1895 in honor of Reverend William A. Passavant, Sr., who had been instrumental in founding both Emergency Hospital and Deaconess Hospital. The hospital expanded to a 65-bed capacity in 1901. In 1925, Passavant formed an affiliation with Northwestern University and began raising funds for a new facility, opened in 1929 and capable of handling 325 inpatients.